Man’s search for identity

“Who are you?”

How would you answer this question?

You’d probably start with your name.

And then what?

Your job? Interests? Ethnicity? 

Whatever’s in your social media bios?

Who are you?

It’s something we all spend our lives trying to answer.

Who Am I?

In 1946, Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl published Man’s Search for Meaning, detailing his experience in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII.

In the book, Frankl states that meaning is vital for human life and experience, especially given life’s many difficulties.

He’s right. And I think this quest for meaning overlaps with our search for identity.

We require some form of meaning to get by, to make sense of a life and world we were born into without consent. 

In looking for meaning, either consciously or subconsciously, we will inevitably find identity through it.

In other words, our identity is typically linked to the meaning we seek.

If your job is your meaning, then you will primarily see yourself as whatever your job title is.

If your family is your meaning, then you will see yourself primarily as the role you play in the family.

If your sexuality is your meaning, then you will primarily see yourself as gay, straight, trans, etc.

You get the idea.

Everyone is looking for an identity and that identity, more often than not, is tied to what we find most meaningful.

Multitudes

Of course, this requires a great deal of nuance.

To echo one of my favorite poets, we contain multitudes, meaning identity is hardly a cut-and-dry issue.

I’m Jon. But I’m also a son and brother and friend and pastor and writer and amateur harmonica player.

I’m a lot of things.

But there’s one aspect of my identity that orders and defines the rest.

I’m a follower of Jesus Christ.

And that’s an important part of identity, the fact that we require some organizing principle that helps us understand and order all life leaves us with.

This, I believe, is what we’re searching for in our quest for identity (to varying degrees of success).

And it’s this search that Jesus speaks to.

And it also happens to be the most controversial thing He offers.

More on that tomorrow.

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

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